INTO THIS YEARBOOK HAVE GONE the results of nearly 100 years of the study of insects. The Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, which was responsible in large measure for the book, traces its origins that far back. The century has seen great changes in farming methods, the intensiveness and extent of agriculture, transportation, and crops. All have affected profoundly our relationships with insects. We hope this Yearbook will be a contribution to the general understanding of those relationships and to the efficiency and well-being of American farming and living. Insects takes its place in the new Yearbook series that began in 1936 and has dealt successively with plant and animal genetics, soils, nutrition, eco'nomics, climate, livestock diseases, developments in agricultural sciences, grass, trees, and the processing of farm products. Some of those volumes can be bought from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. He will quote the prices on request. No person in the Department of Agriculture has copies for general distribution. Some of them are out of print-that is, they cannot be bought from the Government Printing Office. (They are available in nearly every public library in the country, however, and used copies are not very hard to come by.) Sometimes we are asked why we do not reprint the old books. We give several reasons. Although the information in them remains basically correct, recent scientific developments would make certain revisions necessary. Even small changes and additions very likely would mean new plates for many pages, and the cost of the second edition might be the same as that of the first. Also, many subjects of great importance to farmers and other citizens are waiting to be treated in Yearbooks. Among them, for example, are plant diseases, marketing of farm goods, the farm home, the small farm, and water. We look upon the published and the projected Yearbooks all together as an inclusive, authoritative agricultural library. We select the Yearbook subjects (two or three years in advance) on the basis of need and interest, as indicated in communications and comments from farmers and others, as well as the availability of research findings and writers. We try to avoid duplicating material to which farmers have easy access elsewhere. A number of persons contributed greatly to this book. C. F. W. Muesebeck and A. M. Vance, of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, gave valuable advice and help on a number of technical matters. Arthur D. Cushman, also of that Bureau, made most of the color illustrations, many of the line drawings, and the end papers. Edwin Way Teale took seven of the eight photographs. The eighth was supplied by Frank M. Carpenter. ALFRED STEFFERUD, Editor of the Yearbook. D. A. Isler George D. Childress Howard Ingerson Frank Irons T. E. Bronson Earl D. Anderson Research on Aerial Spraying, 252 Machines for Applying Insecticides, 258 Choosing and Using Hand Equipment, 262 Warnings as to Insecticides F. C. Bishopp The Safe Use of Insecticides, 271 John L. Horsfall R. D. Radele ff R. C. Bushland H. V. Claborn Victor R. Boswell B. A. Porter J. E. Fahey Allen B. Lemmon W. G. Reed P. B. Dunbar B. A. Porter W. N. Bruce W. V. King Robert D. Chisholm Randall Latta M. C. Lane R. T. Cotton Ralph B. Swain George G. Becker Herbert J. Conkle E. A. Burns Toxicity to Livestock, 276 Residues, Soils, and Plants, 284 Residues on Fruits and Vegetables, 297 State Pesticide Laws, 302 The Federal Act of 1947, 310 Insecticides and the Pure Food Law, 314 Resistance to Insecticides Insects Are Harder To Kill, 317 Insecticides and Flies, 320 Mosquitoes and DDT, 327 Fumigants Nature and Uses of Fumigants, 331 Fumigating Soils and Plants, 340 Fumigating Stored Foodstuffs, 345 Quarantines How Insects Gain Entry, 350 Our Domestic Quarantines, 360 A. P. Messenger Inspection at Terminals, 371 Page xiii |